Resurrection
by Doodlebug QT
Summary: Life has ended. The UC is destroyed and K-Mart is the last of everything. Yet somehow, in all the chaos, she finds herself in a mysterious treasury and manages to befriend a tiny dragon belonging to a mystical world called Alagaesia. And new life begins.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello:) This is a crossover for resident evil and Eragon. As you've guessed from my summary, the main character is going to be K-Mart. The inspaation for this story happened like this. One day I was listening to the Eragon saga on disk (disk because I was too lazy to read the books and the narrator does the voices better than I could've) then I got to thinking about Resident Evil and how their world was dying. I was thinking about the survivors in the third move and wondering if they ever made it to Alaska. Then I got to thinking, "You know, what if the Umbrella Corporation was working on a way to open up portals into different demensions? And you can already see a plot unravelig here. **

**Then I saw the fourth movie and was curious about the characture K-Mart. You never really hear much about her first life before the T-virus epidemic struck the world. Being a fan of the story "My Sister's Keeper" (movie version because I just read the smmary of the book and I can't believe Anna dies [CRAP! I just ruined it for everyone else! Sorry]) I decided to combine the two characters of Anna and K-Mart to give her a little history. Who knows? It could've happened this way. **

**Anyways I can't really tell you much about this story without spoiling it. All I'll give away is that this begins where Alice left off from destroying what remains of the Umbrella Corporation's underground labs. Only this time Alice isn't the one who survives.**

* * *

><p><strong>1. Death of Her Second Life<strong>

My name is Anna and I wasn't born like other babies. I was engineered for the specific purpose of saving my sister's life. Kate was diagnosed with leukemia when she was only four. Neither of my parents or my brother were matches to give the needed organs and body parts that would ensure her survival. That's where I came in. I was designed in the laboratory of a doctor. Using my mother's eggs and my father's sperm, he gathered the needed genes that were required in order to supply Katy with a sufficient donor.

We all lived together for a while in a big house one big happy family. Every few weeks though I was committed to go to the hospital and lie down as they cut me up piece by piece. It started first with blood, then bone marrow, tissue, and so on. It gave Katy twelve more beautiful years of life, but it was never enough. When they prepared to take my kidney away though, _enough_ was finally _enough_. But not by my own perspective. I would've done it had Katy not finally stepped in.

My mother would never understand my sister's wishes to die, so I secretly went to a lawyer and sued my parents for the rights to my own body. When they found out, my mother was furious; my father along with the rest of my family was more understanding than she was.

I explained to them the possibilities that could occur in the future for both Katy and me. It was possible that the kidney would not work for very long and just as the other surgeries had been, this would only delay her probable fate in the end. Then there was the chance that I myself might need it one day. What then? The doctors also said that if I were to do the operation I would be required to be careful for the rest of my life if I did not want to risk the chance of injuring myself to a mortal end; I could never drink, do sports, smoke, or have children. I would be entitled to spend the whole of my existence as a petty housewife or pencil pusher if I took on the working world. But I didn't want to do such things. I didn't want to be careful. I wanted to play soccer and be a cheerleader and have children and drink once I was of age. The operation would hinder me of such activities.

And so we went through with the trial and before the verdict could be decided, Katy died by her own wishes.

They say that Fiction is easier to believe than fact, and after this version of my short first life, you might feel the need to go on believing that it continues like this today… but no.

This is my life.

My name is K-Mart now in honor of the store from where they found me. When I say "they" what I'm talking about are the last few remaining humans of Earth. That's right, you guessed it, Earth is dying… well actually it's already dead. I suppose it would be called slander to say it is dying when in fact it has already perished. It was already dying by the time I was born and now it is completely lost.

The trees and plants withered away about a year ago and the last of the rivers and lakes dried up a couple of months after. By then they were so polluted with infections and toxic chemicals no one could use the water for human refreshment. I don't remember the last time I took a good clean shower; it had to have been at least three months ago. God I must stink.

Those issues are trivial for the moment, however. At the moment, I have to worry about saving my own skin.

* * *

><p>They were never going to get me. These Umbrella Corporation bastards would die for every life they destroyed with the infection they let loose. My family… my friends… the last free survivors of humanity… all gone…<p>

…Except me.

Like Alice I must fight. I have no other purpose in life anymore but to fight and take as many with me as possible. How many did I kill so far? A hundred? A thousand even? I didn't keep count; I just pointed and fired over and over again till I had to reload or grab a new weapon for the umpteenth time.

Deafening bangs echoed all around, both from me and from my adversaries. More of them fell each second and I received only a few wounds. Bodies tumbled before me as my bullets met their targets. Blood poured from them like crimson fountains as the tiny chunks of metal made their marks. I skidded under a table to avoid an attack from the stronger guns they have provided themselves with now. BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG! The gunshots blew my eardrums so that all I could hear is a steady ringing.

I reloaded and prepared myself. Anger fueled my attack. Memories flashed before my eyes.

A monster whom I once knew as Dad walking towards me, crazed with bloodlust, hunger flashing in his sunken eyes. My mother biting at my throat, thirsty for my flesh. A boy being dragged to the ground by no less that seven of the undead. His screams of pure terror and agony ring in my head as the hideous things tear his flesh at the throat, the stomach, the thigh. Then a woman as she fires repeatedly at the things with a shotgun. All of her shots make a hit in the back, the leg, but none of the creatures even look up as they continue with their meal.

The last vision enticed more than enough hatred to sustain me for thousands of future attacks. I took two guns in my hands and stood, firing shot after deadly shot at the humans, aiming for their heads so that they cannot rise again. I had practiced greatly for that moment and each bullet landed where I meant them. They had grenades now and I lost no time in throwing myself through an air vent.

Air whooshes passed my ears as I fell and fell. It didn't last too long, but even still I knew I must've fallen well over five stories by the time I finally stopped. I was in a deserted room. For a moment I was convinced that there were no undead around there, but the blood on the cages along with the frayed wire that had been torn apart, for the makeshifts of a hole, says otherwise. Something ran at me and I had only a moment to unpocket another pistol and fire it.

A perfect bull's eye as it digs deep into the center of the zombie dog's forehead. It fell to the ground, quite deader than a moment before. I had no time to relish in my triumph as four more hounds of hell stepped lightly over the fallen and lunged at me. Bangs echoed all through the chamber until every dog had a matching hole to the head. None rise again and at last I was alone, save for the corpses.

I needed to leave though. The bangs were sure to draw attention to the guards and I wasted no time to escape. The halls were filled mostly with the undead but occasionally a human would dart in and out of the corridors. I eliminated all, be they dead or alive. I spared no one.

At last I reached the beginning where my bike still stood untouched. But my eyes tend to sometimes deceive me. I did a quick sweep of the machine to makes sure all the parts are in there right places and there was nothing extra clinging to the engine, typically something with wires, C4, or a timer. When all passes my inspection, I rigged up the engine. It roared like a great animal as the back wheel screamed to life, leaving a black patch on the cement. I pulled from my pocket a small black remote with one button on it. The moment I was safely away, everything in the underground building would become its own blazing hellhole.

My thumb trembled against the lever I had to lift to press the button. A few more leagues and I would be free to satisfy the itch on my finger. My bike stopped dead in its tracks suddenly, as if some invisible magnetic force held it in place. I was thrown from my bike, head over heals. I rolled over and over again until at last I skidded to a stop at the feet of a zombie. It fell upon me at once. I felt teeth dig savagely into my right forearm and the toung of the undead as it satisfied itself on the taste of my blood.

A cold scream, more from rage and terror than from pain, left my mouth and echoed through the tunnel. I wasted no time in apprehending a knife from my belt and sunk the blade into the monster's crown. He fell from me and I staggered to my feet. All thoughts left my mind as my attention turned completely on the fresh bite. I had been bitten once before, but I had the ativirus then. There is no ativirus for me this time. To get it I would have to brave the depths of the underground once more; a risk I was unwilling to take.

After this raid, I had already decided to die since I was the last of my species anyways. The rest of the earth was dead. There were not even any healthy animals left to share in my longing for companionship. I would never be able to live with such loneliness. What did it matter how I died, just as long as I died.

I spotted the remote where I dropped it. I staggered slowly towards it, cradling my bleeding arm next to my chest. I picked it up and fingered it absently. Without a single regret I lifted the latch and…

"Wait!"

I turned and was surprised to see a little girl standing feet from me, dressed fairly in white. My surprise subsided as I quickly realized that it was merely the hologram of the AI computer that controled the whole Umbrella building. I ignored her and turned back to the button. Before I could push it though, it flew out of my hand and crashed to the floor. Thankfully though, it did not shatter.

"I have a proposition for you, K-Mart." The voice of the hologram said as I stooped down to pick the remote back up.

I already knew what she wanted to exchange for her existence. "I have no use for the antivirus." I said without looking at her. "I'm going to die one way or another and what use is life if I have no companion to share it with. Least this way is clean and I can't come back. You probably planted that zombie here in the hopes that it would indeed bite me and you would have something that I wanted for a trade. But you were wrong."

Again I attempted to press the bomb button, but again I was stopped. Not by another one of the undead monsters that the Umbrella Corporation kept as pets, but by an earthquake. The ground shook and I was knocked off my feet. The remote skidded from my hands once again, landing somewhere near my bike. I pulled myself back together and stumbled towards the motorcycle as debris and rocks fell from the granite ceiling. I fumbled for it, but before my hands grabbed hold of the black box and at last press that taunting button, the floor gave way and both me and my bike were sent tumbling into the darkness below.

I reeled around in midair, facing the giant hole from which I fell. My hand held something dark and my thumb punched the round red button at last. There was a deafening BOOM and I was consumed at once in biting, golden flames. I didn't stop falling… I never stopped falling. It was then that I realized I was descending strait into the firy pit of hell itself.

* * *

><p>It lasted forever it seemed but finally I realized that I wasn't falling after all, but rushing.<p>

My lungs burned as if I were underwater. It nearly lasted forever before I at last broke free of the plain. When I did, I burst from the surface and was thrown into something that felt like smooth flat gravel. I coughed and sputtered, gasping in great mouthfuls of fresh air, but surprisingly I was somehow still dry. The space from where I'd landed was completely pitch black and it didn't seem to matter whether my eyes were opened or closed. There was a sound that resembled something like a small explosion in a toilet and the next thing I knew, something like the size of a horse had crashed into the hill beside me. There was a moment of stunning silence before I reached out a hand and felt the thing beside me. I breathed a deep sigh of relief when I realized quickly that it was only my motorcycle. It had followed close behind me like a faithful animal keeping close to its master.

I patted it dearly and moved to one of the pockets kept on the side. When I'd found what I had been looking for, I took it in my hands and clicked it on. The light from the flashlight illuminated the darkness immediately and what I saw took all of my breath away.

Every corner of the room was stocked with mountains of treasure from jewels and precious stones to glistening gold. I stared dumbfounded at my surroundings unable to believe where I was. I crouched down and studied the many coins and gemstones under my feet. I inspected a large gold coin in my hand and realized quite suddenly that it was indeed real. Everything in this room was completely real.

Where would the Umbrella Corporation manage to get an entire room the size of a cathedral full of gold? What was more was what on earth would they do with it? The world was no more, and gold was about as worthless as dirt if it had no use but to sit on a shelf and collect dust. No one saw it as valuable anymore. Knives, guns, weapons, food, gas, and water were valued above all else these days and no on wanted to cart around junk they would never use.

I shone my flashlight from corner to corner considering the beauty granted from the grand riches, when suddenly my eyes caught on something more interesting. It looked like a shrine. And on a large but beautiful pavilion sat a gleaming green stone.

Very cautiously I came closer to it, till my steps at last brought me right to the stone from where it sat upon the slab. Now that I was close enough to touch it, it was more beautiful than I ever thought. I took it in my trembling hands and stared at it, as if waiting for something to happen.

As I stared, it reminded me so much of what was lost years ago. It was greener than any forest, or garden, or tree I'd ever remembered from my old life. It had been so long since I'd seen real, green, growing things and my heart suddenly ached at the thought that I would never see those living things again. I shook myself out of the trance, roughly dislodging those emotions from my consciousness. It was stupid to get so worked up over a dumb stone. I couldn't bring back what was already dead and there was no use in even trying.

In any case what in the world was I doing wondering where these Umbrella asses got all this cash? What did it matter to me if they stole it or fished it out from the bottom of the ocean? I had more important things to worry about, such as my life.

My arm was throbbing so tremendously that I could barely move it without waking the pain. I looked at my watch absently. 7:50. In another three hours I would be one of the living dead, cursed to hunger for any human that crossed my path. I had a large urge to find the cure and heal myself, but there was nothing left worth living for. My family was dead as well as my friends… even… even…

I had made it my duty to destroy the last of the Umbrella Corporation, so any other living humans or creatures were terminated just as well. There was nothing left to hold me back.

Every movement seemed to be placed in slow motion as I walked steadily to my bike. My arm dug in one of the pockets as the other held the light and I withdrew a loaded pistol. I hesitated for several minutes before unlocking the safety on it and sticking the barrel in my mouth. My eyes clenched shut and I prepared myself for a pain greater than anything I'd ever or would ever feel again.

"Just do it quickly." I told myself stanching the tears with my lids. My finger trembled on the trigger as I slowly began to pull it back and…

There was a deafening shattering behind me. I dislodged the gun from my mouth and spun wildly around pointing it now in the direction of the clamor. My light shone on the shrine to the emerald stone… or at least what was left of it. Then, sinking realization overcame me as I stared at the glittering pieces. From what I could tell when I held it, the stone had been hollow. Well now I knew it wasn't a stone after all, but actually an egg… and something had just come out of it.

There was rustling behind me and I turned just in time to see a dark shadow dart suddenly behind another mound of treasure. My breath came in hurried gasps and my heart pounded in my chest as the rustling continued for some time. It always came closer to me but never in sight and within range of my bullets. I was tempted to just start firing randomly and being done with it, but I stayed my hand.

This was definitely not the movement of something undead, but a thinking, calculating creature that preferred to toy with its prey before at last going in for the kill. My eyes swept the room with growing anxiety. I crouched and pointed my light and gun in the direction the rustling was mainly coming from.

At last when I thought I could take no more of this game, a tiny green head popped out of a mound of gold. I did not fire at once but waited for the creature to come closer. When it had, the gun lowered ever so slightly and I stared dumbfounded at the thing in front of me.

It… was a lizard of some sort. When it came closer I realized quite suddenly what the growths on its back were. Two bright green wings protruded from both its shoulders, thin and leathery with light green veins spread out over them. It was… a dragon. A real living dragon. But… no! This was a trick! It couldn't be.

It started forward and I brandished my gun again but for some reason the ability to fire was lost to me. It hesitated for a moment then continued again. This wasn't the gestures of a living dead, but a creature that was curious and concerned at the same time. Unsurely I put my gun down and reached my injured arm towards it. It sniffed my finger for a single moment before my fingers brushed ever so lightly against the crown of its head. The next minute a blinding light filled my vision and something that felt like an electric sock and the formation of a powerful bond shot up my arm. It was cold and hot all at the same time. I fell back with a gasp stuck in my throat. Every single inch of her hissed with rushing pain. My mouth opened and though I meant to cry out, _What did you do to me?_ nothing left my mouth.

The next thing to happen took my breath away. Something brushed against my brain, directly under the scalp. Like a feather trailing the softest line under my temples. I felt it again but this time it seemed stronger. It didn't hurt parse, it just seemed more dense and aware; like a whisper gradually turning into a shout. It was like an opening had been torn in my mind and an insensible barrier had fallen away. It was then that I knew I was dead. Something must've snuck up on me and killed me. Now my spirit was escaping away; maybe I would go to heaven. The thought of dying frightened me.

I thought I was prepared. I realized suddenly with terror, that I actually wasn't at all ready for this.

NO! Not now! Please!

The next minute I slammed back into my body and everything was lost in darkness.

* * *

><p>I don't think I've ever slept so deeply before that moment. I lay curled and content in the mound of gold, thinking it softer than a feathered bed. Something warm (which I mistook at first to be a cat) lay curled up by my stomach next to me just as soundly asleep as I was. My hand came down to stroke it comfortingly and I at once distinguished the texture of scales, horns, and leathery skin. I couldn't see the dragon through the darkness but I could feel it, warm and breathing beside me.<p>

"So it hadn't been a dream after all." I said without concern. I was drowsy with the previous sleep and the cares and worries in my life were still waiting to become apparent. So I hadn't been eaten after all, I noticed first. Looks like there was nothing to be afraid of to begin with. I shifted around in my position to stretch and yawn, waking the baby dragon beside me. I was in between the stretch when a sudden terrible memory ruptured the satisfaction of sleep.

"The dead bite!" I realized in a horse whisper, grouping for my injured hand in the darkness.

How long had I been asleep? I should've been one of the undead already. But what had happened? How much time was there till I became one of those monsters? It was far too dark in the treasury to see anything. The flashlight I had held before everything went black, had run out of batteries hours ago. I searched myself for another one but there was nothing. I squinted through the darkness and spotted the tiniest ray of blue light in a far corner of the room. I rushed at it and realized that it was moonlight coming from a little window high up in the stone ceiling. I jerked off the leather glove on my arm and pulled my sleeve up only to find something even more surprising than either the treasury or the baby dragon.

There was nothing left of the undead's bite except a perfectly healed white scar and a silvery line that ran down the length of my thumb and wrapped tightly around my wrist twice ending with a sweep over the scar bite. When I studied it closer, I saw that it resembled something like that of a dragon with an exceptionally long tail. It was too incredible to be true. Was I healed then? Did the baby dragon cure me after that shock? There was pressure on my leg and I looked down in time to see the green dragon rubbing comfortingly against my shin, the way our cat Sophie often did when she wanted attention.

I stooped down and picked it up in my arms, scratching it tenderly behind its ears. It purred happily with the treatment, leaning its head back to become closer to my fingers. For a fire-breathing reptile, it seemed awfully feline. I sat down with it curled in my arms, continuing to massage its scaly temple. Something touched my mind unexpectedly. The sensation was faintly failure to me, because I'd once battled a monster with telekinetic powers of it's own. I mulled in the thought for a faint moment. That monster had been trying to reduce me to a mindless robot. If you've never engaged in battle with a creature of supernatural mind abilities, it really hurts to have one tampering with your head… it hurts a lot actually.

This, however, was soft but still tangible somehow, not the mind hammering battled I'd engaged in. More like the warmness you may feel on your scalp when standing in a hot shower.

Then, quite unexpectedly, the dragon looked up to my face and a starving sensation overwhelmed me.

I was so hungry all of a sudden. And from the insisting of the dragon, it was as well. It opened its mouth wide to display a small set of sharp baby teeth. It squeaked impatiently, searching the ground for food of some kind. It was only born a few hours ago, so I could understand if it was feeling hungry.

Now that I thought about it, I couldn't remember the last time I ate anything. That only made me even hungrier than I already was and in response, my stomach gave a loud growl. I wondered if I had any food left in one of the bags on my bike.

Ever since the outbreak of the virus, there was a chance that people could become infected through the consumption of contaminated food. As a result, all survivors were strictly reduced to a diet of tightly sealed, canned, and packaged food. It's been three years since the last time I had a well-cooked meal. But after a while, you sort of get use to it all.

I rooted through my bike in the light the moon provided for me and found a blank silver can. I shook it up to my ear trying to use my hearing to detect what could possibly be inside the way Mikey was able to do it. There was a swishing sound with a chunky knocking that was possibly some sort of fruit, but one could never be too sure. For all I knew, it was probably a can of green beans, which taste awful in my personal opinion.

I hammered a knife into it and sipped on what turned out to be peaches. I offered some to the baby dragon, but it didn't seem to enjoy the taste too well. Even still, it reluctantly gobbled up half of the can. It looked at me as I ate up what was left, but before I had finished, I was overcome with a deep desire to find some meat to chew on. Surely I had some protein of some kind. I rooted through the bags again trying to find a promising tin.

_Perhaps this one. _

I hammered a hole in it and smelled ham and potatoes. I offered it to the dragon. It sniffed it once and recoiled. It looked up at me with a disturbed un-satisfaction. If it had words I would expect it would say something like, "Is that really the best you can do?"

I sighed. "It's not much I know but it's really all that I have. They're not labeled so I'm afraid you'll just have to manage. I can't afford to be picky and neither can you."

It must've decided that this was going to be the best it got. So it plunged its head in the can and gobbled what was there down to the bottom. The two minutes it took for it to finish and it hadn't spared a single crumb.

"Hungry huh? I wonder if I have any left."

I searched for more but found none. _Damn!_ I was out. And I didn't know where I would find more. All that was left were some Top Romen bags, canned fruit and/or vegetables, and squashed potato chip bags that were mostly crumbs by now.

Well I couldn't sit here and snack anyways. I had to find a way out of here. Those bastards were sure to come looking for me and I needed to get the hell out of here. I adjusted my bike and rolled it over to the door and… dear god!

It was wood! It was a wooden freaking door. Why the hell would the Umbrella Corporation be using a wooden door for this treasury? Come to think of it, this whole place looked like it dropped out of a fairy tale. The interior was made of hard granite, not concrete or white metal, which the scientists were fond of. And there were no lights. Why on earth would there be no lights? And cameras! Wouldn't they put cameras in a place like this? Just to make sure people like me didn't burst in. It just didn't make sense.

Maybe this was an illusion. Maybe they'd found out a way to breach the wards I'd put up to protect my freewill and now they were just messing with my mind. Whatever the case was, I needed to take the initiative and make a plan.

Well I had one, sort of, but if anything went wrong, I wouldn't be getting out of here alive. I felt the dragon on my leg again and looked down. Its eyes stung my heart. I stooped down again and scooped it up, cradling it like the helpless baby it was.

I _had_ to get out of here now. I had a purpose now. And that purpose was to guard this dragon hatchling with my very life. I knew evil. I saw it in monsters assuming the roles of men and I saw it in creatures created to feed off of the lives of innocents. I knew from the very moment I saw this baby, knew in my very soul, that it was not evil. Not evil for a second.

I kissed its crown tenderly. "We're all that's left of civilization. The Umbrella Corporation did this to us. They took it all without mercy and without the decency to end it quickly. They must face judgment for what they've done to us. They must… suffer my vengeance!"

* * *

><p><strong>End of chapter one. It's all gunna be told in third person from here on out. Sorry if you liked K-Mart's telling through her perspective. Chapter two is coming. Review if you like this and if you don't... review anyways. I love your comments:)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**2. A new player**

Uru baen. The capitol city of the empire. The home of King Galbatorix and his fiery black pet. It's unlikely that any of the rebels would attack this fortress of the king's palace. Even still the King has demanded constant twenty-four hour guard to his sacred treasury. The same treasury that held the earth's most valued prize. Not gold or jewels, but an emerald egg that every rebel and elf would die for the chance to have in their possession. There have been no attempts to secure this item from any of the rebels. And none would expect it. Who in the world could dare hope to breach such a bastion?

And yet…

The guards positioned outside the treasury exchanged confused glances as a strange sound came from the opposite side of the enormous wooden door. Naturally they weren't supposed to be moving unless the moment requires them to do so. But this was something so unexpected that they didn't know what else to do. If they could've described the sound in their own words, they would say it was a high and steady "BEEP BEEP BEEP."

"What is that?" One of the guards asked to his comrade. They leaned in to the doors to listen closer. The beeping quickened suddenly, but they didn't respond except to lean in even closer to hear what in the world it could possibly be. For one fraction of a second the beeping stopped and then…

BOOOOOOOM!

The doors flew off their hinges as the guards were consumed within the fiery inferno. They were dead before what was left of them hit the ground. Flames licked at whatever wood had somehow remained upright in place. Within the colossal room was nothing for the other guards to see. Then a screeching, like a blade on a whetstone, rung the air and a burning smell filled their nostrils. There wasn't even time to lift their weapons as something black and huge flung itself out of the room. Loud bangs stung their ears, and one by one, they all fell as metal pieces, no bigger than the length of pebbles, dug into their brains.

Air whipped past, as the thing rushed through the halls of the great palace with a speed no horse in the world could match. It was loud and the witnesses who caught a single glimpse of the thing, described it as some sort of invention with a person riding on what appeared to be a saddle. A smooth shining helmet masked any face that could be seen underneath.

It was quite literally the last thing anyone could've expected.

The creature or machine zoomed through the halls, shooting down armored men and killing all who stepped in the way. Few survived the rampage and none of them were solders. At last the being made its way into the courtyard. Shouts erupted the night air.

"Close the gate! Close it!"

For the time it took the machine to get clear of the ironed bars, the gate was barely halfway closed. With such awe-inspiring speed, one would think the gate was moving slower than molasses. The bridge, which connected the palace with the massive city, didn't succeed to stop the thing either. Its rider saw the gateway to freedom being lifted under it and pushed the mechanical beast as hard as it would go. In one single instant, the two-wheeled machine and its rider were suspended together in the air. The guards, with their mouths hung open, watched as the mysterious being cleared the empty air and landed, with a bit of a bump, safely on the other side. Their was no warning that could be made in time to beat the machine before it ran over the guards whom protected the city walls.

The thing had navigated its way out of the colossal city before any word could be sent. By the time the messenger arrived to the gates, the invader had already ran through. It had been so fast and so unlike anything that had ever happened to anyone before, that a person could blink, and it would be gone.

What was worse was that the egg in which held the priceless creature inside, was missing. What was left of the animal was nothing more than a broken green eggshell. What was left of the intruder was an empty can, which held some kind of fruit at one point, and a metal stick-like clicking device no one could identify.

* * *

><p>Murtagh strode through the great doors to the throne room. He knew exactly what his kingship wanted him for. Word had moved quickly through the castle of the stolen dragon hatchling and the being whom apprehended it right out from under their noses. Somehow Murtagh could not suppress the smugness building in him. He hated his king with his very being and the only reason he dared to serve a monster of his ilk was through shear force. So it was no surprise that he'd found some small bit of delight to know someone from the rebellion had successfully broken into the palace and had taken not the egg, but the hatchling within. And the mysterious person had even been successful in killing andor terrifying the royal guard.

Now he could only assume that his highness wished for the Crimson Rider to hunt down this new player and bring both dragon and rider back to the palace so Galbatorix could force them into servitude for him; just as he'd done to Murtagh and Thorn.

The knight reached the foot of the black throne where his king sat. There was a furious expression set into the lines of his face. Murtagh knelt resentfully. "Yes my lord? You called for me."

"You've heard of what has happened, have you not?"

The man tried to suppress his smirk. "Yes your majesty. I have indeed."

"And you probably suspect what I am about to order you to do now, correct?"

"You wish me to hunt this rider down and apprehend him for your services."

Galbatorix rose from his seat. "You have failed me many times already, Murtagh." The calm in the king's voice was strained, and Murtagh knew from experience this was when he was at his most dangerous. "You will not this time. I order you," Murtagh felt his chest tighten with the order to obey as his monarch continued, "do not come back until you have succeeded this mission. You will bring both thief and dragon to my palace where I will recruit them for the almighty cause." He sat back down in his seat and mused accusingly. "With all your failed attempts to capture your brother successfully, this shouldn't be too difficult for you. After all, the dragon is no more than a hatchling, and the rider could not have much training. Can you do this, or are you too incompetent to even hope to accomplish a mission like this?"

Murtagh bit his tongue. He wanted so much to snap back at this insufferable man. He would've too if the consequences would only effect him. But with his dearest friend on the line, he wouldn't risk it. Instead he answered with a grudging, "Yes, sire. I can."

"Good. Now get out of my sight."

* * *

><p>The motorcycle zoomed over the terrain and dirt road for the remainder of the night and on into the morning. By this time, its rider was quiet exhausted, but she dared not stop. The Umbrella Corporation could be right behind her or even viewing her from one of their many satellites orbiting the planet. That was how they found their quarry these days. Alice had elaborated to Clair and the rest of the survivors on how she had been found so many times before. K-Mart would only stop once she found some cover. For the portion of the night she'd only been lucky to travel along the edges of a river. She wondered distantly what it was called. The sight and smell of the water made her thirsty. But she didn't dare drink from it. After all, lakes and rivers these days were proven to be all polluted with toxins and the infection. There was no escaping the greatest epidemic in world history no matter where you went.<p>

Inside her helmet, she was suddenly overcome with great sensation of claustrophobia. Not only that, but it was getting stuffy and she was finding it very difficult to breath. "Can't stop." She told herself. "There's no cover around here. Need to find shelter before we rest." She tried to hold out but it was getting difficult and she was becoming impatient. A small growl filled her ears and suddenly she remembered the tinny dragon. "Oh! Um… okay we'll stop shortly."

She gasped when a new sight hit her. They were coming into a forest. And what a forest it was. Just like the ones she and her family use to camp in Montana. Though the light was dim she could still see the lush of the trees and plants. They were healthy. How was that possible? She forced herself to bring her mind back to the issue at hand. The bike slowed as she scanned the trees for mountains where she could find nooks or small caves.

There! She spotted a hollow a few meters above them. It would be hell to get her bike up there, but she'd be damned if she left it alone on the bottom of the terrain where anyone could find it and sabotage or steal it. It wasn't incredibly high at least. And with that altitude, she would at least be able to spot prowlers and enemies fairly easy, even among the trees. She parked her bike near the ridge and took the baby from its hiding place. She used a backpack and a sweater to makeshift a little bed for it. She'd wrapped it up in a little bundle with the sweater and used the pack as a little pouch for him to snooze, sort of like a kangaroo. It'd snuggled in there quite nicely when she first placed it inside. It had even surprised her when it didn't panic or even stir while she was firing her wrath down upon her enemies.

She'd spoken soft words of comfort as the baby dozed in her makeshift bed. She'd reached out with the mind powers Alice had trained her to use, and envisioned a glorious place she once knew long ago. A place filled with sunshine, green trees, flowers, and bubbles filling the air like floating glass bulbs. She remembered a soft lullaby she was once very found of, and played it over in her mind. The tune worked and the baby settled in nicely.

"It'll be alright." She'd said stroking it on the head. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you little guy. I'm not going to let them take you away. I'm not going to let them take anyone else away ever again."

The dragon found comfort in this statement, for it knew that she was telling the truth. She didn't know how it knew or how she knew it knew—she just knew somehow.

K-Mart picked the bag with the dragon up and carried it up to the cave first. Apparently it was a lot steeper than she'd predicted. She stumbled several times before reaching the top. When she looked down she had a good view of the surrounding terrain. The dawn was coming and even in the dim light she was able to see for miles around. She couldn't see the city from where she'd obtained the baby dragon; only the river and the forest.

"Pretty!" K-Mart murmured as the sun was coming up over the horizon. It'd been so long since she enjoyed the vibrant gold and ruby of a summer sunrise. She really should've been setting about making good her camp, but she just couldn't find it in her to turn away. She sat down with the baby in her lap and together they watched the new day approach.

"Am I the last?" She whispered to the air. She felt the curiosity of the dragon's eyes upon her as if it understood her words and wished for her to explain further. A memory filled her of all the people she loved and how they died one by one. First her sister, then her father, then her mother and her aunt, her brother, her friends, the last free remaining survivors, and final of all Alice… her hero and her hope.

_I remember the fighting. The Arcadia being blown to pieces and people dying all around me. It wasn't a battle, it was a slaughter. All of us, just trying to find a home, a place where we could find safety from the never-ending army of undead. _

_And they came! The Umbrella Corporation! They came in thousands to kill all of us and to use us as lab rats for the T-virus. We weren't prepared. We'd just…_

_And Alice._

_She fought so hard. I was knocked unconscious when the ship blew and she dragged me to the coast. Every breath she spent saving my life. There were possibly twenty of us who actually made it. When I came round again it didn't matter anyways. The remainder of the survivors who'd made it to the coast where devoured by the army of zombies waiting for us. _

_I can still hear their screams. I can still see the shine of black as the Umbrella Corporation stood by and did nothing. _

_OH GOD! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN? HOW?_

_We fought as hard as we could and we made it. Sort of. Only two of us escaped. Me and Alice, and that was it._

_Our hope was shattered. We were two broken women alone in this big world. But our fury was great and it made our wrath just the more great. Alice had copied the advance T-virus she'd been ejected with before. She was the only one to ever successfully merge with it. She could've gotten it all back you know. Strength, speed, accelerated healing… and in the end she gave it to me. I became her new hope._

_I was afraid at first. We didn't know what it would do to my DNA. But I trusted Alice, so I let her inject me. And it worked! I still can't believe it, but it worked. She taught me how to use my powers and I accelerated quickly. Within two years we were ready to make our attack. _

_We found all of their fortresses and we unleashed a wrath upon them as never seen in human history. They fought back of course. Those bastards dared to fight back for the sins they've committed. But it didn't do them any good. We knew their tricks this time and we played them to the last one standing. It was the first time a war had been made and won by merely two women. Or so we thought._

_I thought I'd killed the rest of them. Looks like I'll have to regroup and think of a new plan to claim my vengeance. _

She could feel the baby dragon's gaze looking up at her. The sunrise reflected off the tears dripping from her eyes and a new sensation suddenly filled her. She looked down and the dragon was rubbing his temple against her in an attempt to comfort. Hope filled her up at the sight of the little creature.

"Yes, I suppose it is going to be alright, isn't it?" She hugged the little thing tenderly. "I can't keep thinking about this now. I'm so young after all. I need to look to the future. I've made my mark and now they can properly fear me. But now I have to try and make it better." She unrolled her right glove and looked at the silvery line along her hand. The line the dragon used to heal her. "I guess this must be my second chance, huh? I better make the most of it. From this moment on, you're my first concern. Nothing will ever happen to you, 'kay? Nothing!"

* * *

><p>It'd taken a little shoving a swearing before K-Mart was finally successful in lugging her weapons and bike up to the small cave. Without her powers it would've been impossible, but the telekinesis had given her a boost and instead of dragging it to the top, she'd been able to just levitate it up there; just as Alice had taught her to do. It only exhausted her temporarily.<p>

Before she could relax though, she had to secure her camp. And to do that, booby traps were in order. Alice along with a select number of K-Mart's previous guardians had taught her all she new about good security. The first array of her traps was merely to sound alarms; in short terms they were loud—very loud. If intruders continued, then the second wave were to stun or catch them. And after that, if they kept coming, then the really fun ones broke out. K-Mart had to admit, this would be interesting if anyone tried to break through.

"Okay," she said slumping to the ground when her work was finished. "Now I can relax." She lay back down on the stone ground. She was quite exhausted at this point. It didn't even surprise her when she found herself waking up from a dreamless sleep the next minute. She felt someone nudging her and instantly thought it was Alice waking her so they could begin a new day of drills, training exercises, and battle strategies. "I wasn't asleep!" She rejoined, snapping to and becoming instantly alert.

The girl surveyed the cave, expecting to find her mentor leaning over her and preparing to give her instructions. She found the cave empty save for herself. K-Mart was nudged again in the stomach. When she looked down, she found the dragon holding up something in its small toothy mouth. Whatever it was, it was furry with a small trickle of blood dripping from a gash in its neck. The dragon offered it to K-Mart who recoiled at the sight of it.

"Ugh!" She said in disgust. She grabbed it and tossed away. "You don't know where that's been. It could be infected." The dragon looked at her for a moment then it looked back at the dead animal, back at her, and back to the animal. Finally it skipped over to the thing, and before K-Mart could stop it, gobbled down the entire animal, fur, bones, and all. K-Mart didn't know what to do. If the thing was infected then it would take only a few hours for her little dragon to turn into a savage monster. If it wasn't, then she guessed things would be okay. But if not…

She just couldn't bear to let anyone else die because of the T-Virus. Her heart nearly ripped in half at the thought of loosing her new friend despite the short time they'd had together. She'd watch her baby closely for the next few hours and if anything happened, she would need to eliminate it. Once she dealt with that horrible prospect, she would kill herself as well. She just couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't take the killing and the death of her friends. She couldn't keep going if she had to live alone anyways. If they died she died too, either by a broken neck or by a broken heart.

She waited tensely and watched the tiny hatchling playing in the dust as it chased crawling insects and tossed around a ball K-Mart had in her pocket. An hour went by, then another, and then another and still nothing happened. Could it be possible that the animal hadn't been infected at all? Or maybe this little creature was a test subject for T-Virus immunity. Could the Umbrella Corporation be looking to suppress the infection for their own people? Or did it just work on animals at the moment?

It didn't really matter anyways. Whether or not the animal was infected or not, K-Mart dared not risk it. She didn't know if it would be so with other creatures. Then again, a person can easily tell if an animal was infected. Considering the fact that the creature was a walking rotting corpse, one didn't need much to figure that out.

The dragon neared her cautiously. K-Mart picked it up when it seemed clear that the tiny beast wouldn't snarl and bite her hand off. She sat back against a stone and scratched it under the chin and around the ears. When she did that the winged reptile seemed to just melt in her hands. A warm feeling of pleasure ran its way up her spine as she continued doing this. It was almost as if she were feeling it as well. She continued and the feeling grew.

She passed out with the delight of the massage spreading through her. As she dreamed she felt visions of unsurpassed security and warmth. It was dim inside the small space. What light she saw was a vivid green, just like the light passing through a leaf. She didn't know much of the world or even understood anything right now but what she did know, was that she was safe.

She slept on until the new day without fear or interruption. And when the shining rays of the new sunrise came over the horizon, the only pain she felt were those coming from her stomach. As she ate from her cans and sealed chip bags, the dragon caught its own meal again. This time it appeared to be a rat of some kind.

"I guess you know where to get your own meals don't you?" K-Mart's head cocked to the side as she studied the animal. _My what pretty scales_, she thought as she reached toward them. _Just like demantoid garnet, or peridot_. She picked the baby up and turned it so that it faced her. "I guess I should give you a name, shouldn't I? But first, what are you, a boy or a girl?" She tried to be as discreet as she could manage as she checked but couldn't quite tell. Did dragons even have parts? She really wasn't the right sort of person to know these things. Her friend Jessica had more experience in this field than she did. The oddball she knew back in middle school was obsessed with fantasy creatures in this field. Knowing her, K-Mart assumed the girl would've let a zombie eat her own hand to have the chance to actually meet a dragon for real.

"I wish I would've had the chance to study more about dragons while they still had the internet. Back then I thought they were all just old legends about dinosaurs that didn't go extinct. Jess knew more about these things than I do. I wish she were still here." She hated to think of how her friend died when the infection first broke out. It was the first time K-Mart witnessed a person being ripped to shreds. After that, it almost became natural, because it'd happened so often. She quickly turned back to her dragon. Thoughts like those would only make her cry and hate all over again.

"I suppose I'll just have to do my best." She cocked her head to the side as she considered a number of names for the little green guy. "Well I do remember a few that Jess mentioned to me. She was crazy about dragons you know. She would've loved you too. Lets see… there was the Laidley Wyrm who was a princess turned into a dragon, and Norbert who was a fictional pet for a half giant called Hagrid, then there was Beowolf's dragon, and Smaug from the Hobbit… but he wasn't nice at all." The dragon frowned at the list she'd provided. "You're right. They are terrible names, aren't they? Maybe instead of trying to come up with an old name, I should just give you a new one. Well you're green, and you're a dragon. Sort of like a neon green. Hmm." She tried the name out. "Neon? No, that doesn't sound right somehow. Neo? Neo." Yeah that sounded kinda nice. She thought of the cool superman guy from the Matrix and chuckled. "Heh are you the one? Well I like it enough. What do you think? It's your name after all."

The dragon looked at her. Then its mouth widened and it yawned. It appeared to be fairly disinterested in the situation at the moment. K-Mart chuckled. She couldn't expect too much. He was only a baby after all.

"Neo it is." She nodded in verdict. "I hope you like it. Cuz you're going to be stuck with it for the rest of you life… unless you decide to change it that is. After all I changed mine, what's to say you can't change yours if you decide to?"

The dragon, now referred to as Neo, stared at her with it's head tilted to the side like a little child trying to understand what it was that was going on. Instead of understanding, Neo just crawled into her lap and curled up under her hand.

"It's the strangest feeling." K-Mart muttered leaning back on the cave wall and scratching him gently. "I know you're just an animal but somehow I do think you can understand me." She tilted his head up towards her. "Can you understand me? Maybe not what's going on here, but my words at least?" The dragon nodded in response. Somehow the clear answer didn't surprise her as much as it would've with other people. She smiled serenely and leaned back again. "You're a clever little guy aren't you? You understand my words and catch your own food all by yourself. And you're just a baby. I'll be excited to see you grow up." She imagined a full and mature dragon with glistening green scales like shining gemstones. She could see his glorious emerald wings fanned out around him. "My that'll be magnificent." She idled on the vision, finding rest with it.

BANG!

She snapped up as she recognized the clatter of stones as one if her booby traps was sprung a few yards off.

Someone was coming this way!


	3. Chapter 3

**3. Hold Up**

Bor was a captain. He lead a small patrol of soldiers along the Ramr River. Two nights ago the small group of men were awoken in the dead of night by a most loud and unusual growling. The lookout had reported it steadily growing off in the distance. Soon it became louder and louder. One of the look out party walked towards the place the sound was coming from. A light was growing in the distance.

_What was that?_ The man had thought. The light got bigger and bigger and the sound became louder and louder. The man dodged suddenly out of the way just as something the size of a small horse zoomed past, nearly running the scout over with the unimaginable speed.

Bor had sent thirty of his best men ahead to track the thing that barged through his camp two nights ago. While he stayed behind, he received an urgent message from the king himself, describing a thief that had broken into the castle and stolen the last dragon hatchling. His description matched the thing that rode past their camp. Bor hurried himself to track down the party he'd sent ahead of him.

Now the bit of the small battalion followed the sound of banging where his men were huddled behind rocks and trees to shield themselves from the never ending banging coming from the cave. Their bows and arrows were pathologically useless against the new rider's unusually loud weapons.

_What the hell was this magic?_

"Druan!" He waved his second over to him. "I got here as soon as I could, what's happened here. I thought you said you had the situation under control when I left you in charge. You said you had the rider surrounded without his awareness."

"W-we did sir." The tall, thin man replied with a stutter. "But um, one of us set off a booby trap and well… it all went downhill from there."

"Well why haven't you had Markus put up some wards to protect yourselves." Markus was suppose to be one of the most talented magicians from Uru Baen. Even these… inventive weapons shouldn't have been hard to create some barriers to protect them for a while.

"Well… ahem… sir," The man found the hilt of his sword suddenly very interesting. "He was the first one she hit. Her aim is quite good. Got him right in the forehead with a pebble I think. She's obviously a very powerful magician."

The captain looked over and sure enough, found their magician lifeless on the ground with a gaping hole, barely a pebble's length, in the dead center of his forehead.

"A pebble? How was she able to kill a grown—," The captain cut off suddenly. "Wait a moment. She?"

"Uh, yes sir. The new rider is a woman."

"Oh really," The captain sneered at this information. He'd never been one to trust women could have resilience or sense enough to know how to build a good booby trap, let alone kill anyone. Their place was in the home, tending to their and families and cooking, not a battle field. The man growled. "Stupid worthless tramp! How many men are left?"

"We came here with thirty-five all together, but um you see," His second was quite reluctant to speak today, but pressed on as asked. "It appears she was the one expecting us. Some of the patrol fell into other booby traps and the others were hit with those things she keeps firing and well… now there's only a percentage of us left."

"How many?"

Druan hesitated. "Nine."

"NINE?" Captain Bor was outraged. "You came here with thirty-five well trained men, and you only have nine left. This is a woman. You were beaten by a good for nothing girl!"

The second rubbed his back sheepishly. "I beg your pardon sir, but I'm under the impression that she's had more training than even we have."

"You are useless!" The captain turned from the man and looked up to the cave where sparks of light flashes erupted each time a string of bangs came from the strange black weapon she held. Her face was covered with a sleek black helmet. He wondered how his men were able to realize she was a woman if she hadn't even shown her face. It appeared the captain would have to sort this all out himself.

"Hey, girlie!" He called up to the cave. The barrage of booms stopped momentarily. "We're not here to hurt you. We just want to talk."

"You bastards with the Umbrella Corporation?" Now he knew how they found out. The voice coming from the cave was unmistakably feminine. He wasn't quite sure what was in her voice. He detected what could've been hope. Maybe he could sweet talk his way through this. Women were weak after all.

"If that's what you so desire," He said smoothly, "then yes miss. We are from this uh… Umbrella Corporation, was it?"

"Oh really, you say? That's too bad," She lifted her weapon again and spoke with venom. "Because I hate the Umbrella Corporation!" More bangs ran through the patrol. The captain barely had time to dodge back behind his tree for cover. To the right of him, two more men fell.

She paused in her shooting to scoff and yell at them. "You boys are pathetic! Why don't you quite playing with those bows and arrows and hit me with some real artillery already? I can't believe you would sacrifice your men to keep up your dumb act. By the way, the whole Lord of the Rings getup is really lame. And I thought you guys were suppose to be smart."

"That's it missy!" The captain was red with anger. He'd get this little brat for this. "Throw down your weapons right now or we'll be forced to use violent aggression with you."

There was laughter in her voice. "Aggression! Well it's about time, ladies. I'm beginning to grow mushrooms up here." The captain felt his skin crawl with her insult.

"Impertinent little bitch! I'll get you for this!"

"Ha! You want my weapons here you go!" She tossed something over the ledge and for a moment the man thought she'd actually given up.

He looked over and saw a small black cylinder with a metal hook on the top of it. "What the—what is this?"

"Look out!" Druan yelled, tackling the man to the ground. Fire and earth erupted from where the cylinder landed. The man felt his insides rupture and thought he was going to be pulverized. He could feel fire on his face and threw his hands out in front of him to shield the attack. As quick as it had begun, it ended. His ears were ringing when Druan helped him to his feet.

He was saying something now, "—she's been throwing those things down here all day. Got five of us with the first one. After that we all started dodging them."

The captain's arm hurt tremendously and since Markus was dead, there was no one to heal it.

"Sir," Druan called, clearly frightened out of his wits at the amount of power those weapons were raining upon his men. "Please grant me permission to order the retreat."

"What! You cowards want to run from this… GIRL!"

"With all due respect, sir, but we've lost our magician, we have no way to heal ourselves, we're sporting useless weapons in this situation, and it appears she's carrying more power than we can ever dream to poses, undoubtedly because she now carries the power of the dragon hatchling as well. We have no choice, sir. We're down to seven men when we originally started with thirty-five. Do you believe we should just sit here and wait to die?"

"COWARD! I'll show you how this is done." The captain rushed out from his hiding place brandishing his sword and scaling the steep hill. He didn't get very far.

There was a bang and the body of the captain fell back into view. A gaping hole poured blood from the center of his forehead. Somehow it didn't disappoint Druan the way he thought it would. After all, the captain was a bit of an ass and it's not like he didn't really deserve that. No idiot would've gone blazing out there without cover or weapons that were affective. The man practically served himself up on a silver platter for her. Looks like Druan was the next in command.

He didn't need to think twice about his decision. "Retreat!" He shouted to his men and they were almost too happy to obey.

* * *

><p>K-Mart watched them run and felt an unorthodox feeling of satisfaction. It was brief though. Now that they knew where she was hiding, it would mean she would have to leave and make another camp somewhere else.<p>

"Come on Neo." She said holding out her hand to the small dragon. He gripped her arm and used his nails to climb up where he could perch on her shoulder. She packed what few items she'd gotten off her bike and replaced them in their rightful places. She mounted and revved the engine. "This might be a little bumpy." She warned the hatchling, who tightened his grip in response. She hit the gas and the bike flung out of the cave. It soared through the air like a dart flying from a gun. K-Mart focused all her power and concentration on the bike. She needed to keep it air born for as long as possible. She couldn't' over exhaust herself though. If she used too much energy, she wouldn't have enough to drive her bike. And then she'd really be in trouble.

Her bike lowered like she intended and she aimed it directly at a group of boulders that swept down in a smooth ramp for her landing. Time sped up as she neared the landmark. She hit it with more force than she would've enjoyed. In fact that landing really took a number on her crotch when she hit her seat hard and unexpectedly. The bike bounced and made it even more uncomfortable. She did her best to ignore the pain and focused her attention on the road. Her bike dodged trees and shrubs as it zoomed quickly past. Her eyes caught several of the men who'd retreated from her before.

Why in the world weren't they riding a helicopter or a gun ship or something of the sort? Why did they insist on running? Well she could figure that out later. The one thing she had to do at that moment was stay focused and drive her bike.

They were barely nine meters away before Druan saw the rider zip by them on that great machine of hers. Ye Gods she was fast on that thing! Whatever it was.

She sped by them, barely acknowledging them as she rode by. She disappeared in the trees and the roar from the mechanical horse dulled till it was completely silent in the trees. Druan slowed to a jog and stopped finally when he realized she wasn't coming back.

"By the great love of the gods, what was that?" wheezed one of his men coming up from behind.

Druan shook his head. "I'm not sure. But whatever it was, the king must be informed."

* * *

><p>They waited for two nights before Murtagh finally found what was left of their battalion. The crimson rider jumped from Thorn's back before the monster had landed completely. He looked the men up and down one at a time and scowled. They were beaten, thirsty, hungry and exhausted. Since their magician had been killed they had to settle with tending to their wounds the old fashioned way, which required yards and yards of bandages as well as salves and cauterizing to staunch bleeding and infections. There was a grand total of five men left out of the whole unit.<p>

Murtagh lifted his eyes at the amount of damage they'd undergone. "Where is the rest of your party, Captain?"

Druan sighed wearily, as if he'd feared that question. "This _is_ the rest, sir. A few days ago we came into contact with the new rider and attempted to engage her."

Murtagh frowned in disbelief. "It's a woman?"

"I'm afraid so. And she is much more powerful that you would suspect, sir."

"Already? Is she a magician then?"

"It would appear so. She was sporting weapons in which I have never before encountered until now. It was a slaughter sir, we didn't even have a chance."

Murtagh scowled as he ordered the man to tell him absolutely everything. And the captain happily obliged.


	4. Chapter 4

4. Untouched and Regained

K-Mart stopped her bike when they came rounded a corner of a steep platue. She dismounted and rubbed her thighs where she'd landed on them.

_Damn, that landing had really hurt!_

Neo jumped from her shoulders and curled on the ground. He sure did look happy to be on stable ground again. The ride had been a bitch for both of them. Bumping up and down on the dirt terrain had taken a real number on their stomachs. Not only that but she probably couldn't even begin to imagine what it'd done to her poor motorcycle. She looked over to the instruments on her bike and groaned. Well in two more miles, she'd be officially out of gas. She'd even used the last of what was left in her gas can a few hundred miles ago.

This was a real pain in the ass. Now she would have to risk miles of open country to find a broken down gas station and hope there was still a bit more juice left.

Hmm, she hadn't seen a zombie for a long time now. Not since she'd blown up the UC's base. Where the hell did they all go?

She turned, shading her eyes from the sun as she scoped out a promising route to the nearest seven-eleven. Then stopped when they caught something unexpected.

"What the… What is that?" She snatched the binoculars from her bike and scanned what had caught her eye. "No… it can't be. Is that a town?"

She focused her goggles and zoomed in on a man stumbling around an old barn. For a moment she mistook him for another one of the undead. But then he looked up at the sky and stretched the way any normal human did. He turned to a couple of horses—real horses!—and patted one affectionately as he fed them.

K-Mart's mouth dropped. That wasn't the body language of an undead. Yet she still wasn't sure if her eyes were deceiving her. Her eyes swerved on a group of children playing in a field of bright green grass. She studied a crowd of women conversing by the river and washing the week's dirty laundry. Everything looked so old and… and… ancient. The houses were all wooden and nailed with poor isolation and roofing. Only a few buildings were made of stone. The people wore heavy woolen clothing and dull natural colors. She recognized tools like hammers and swords. Where were the guns? And did they actually ride those horses? She couldn't see a car or a truck or any mechanical vehicle whatsoever.

How were these people able to live like this? The Umbrella Corporation had made it certain to ruin every single life on Earth, and yet here were these people, happily living their lives as if the infection had had no impact on them.

Their way of life was so… primitive.

She had to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

><p>It was nighttime when they reached the village. She could feel the curious stares of the villagers on her as she walked into the town. Judging by their expressions, they'd never before set eyes on the metal <em>thing <em>she was riding. And it made such a loud sound, how could they possibly ignore it? She parked it by a wooden post and dismounted. K-Mart pretended not to even notice the awkward glances she was receiving from each and every human she passed; even the animals seemed to look at her curiously.

She took the backpack that held Neo snoozing peacefully and swung it over her shoulder carefully. She headed towards a bar or pub that was a buzz of activity in the night air. Perhaps K-Mart would get some answers there.

She walked in and saw the occupants were mostly middle-aged men and a few bar maids tending to their orders. The room suddenly fell silent when they caught sight of the stranger.

Her dress was so out of the ordinary from everyone else that she couldn't blame them for staring. She was literally unlike anything they'd ever seen. She was pale and her face hadn't a single blemish to be seen. Thanks to the T-virus all her scars had healed beautifully, except for the worse of the worse. She was tall and slender yet with a steady strength and balance that spoke of years and years of constant training. Not only that, but her attire also drew attention. She was clad completely in black and her clothing was tight, displaying the curves and perfect angles of her youthful figure. Her trench coat was made of the finest leather, as was her boots, and were decorated with bright, smooth metal buckles, chains and zippers.

As an addition, she sported weapons most never saw an equal to: two long swords slung over her back, knives and throwing blades strapped to her belt, and other things that didn't look much like weapons to the villager's point of view.

In short terms, her disposition shouted with threats of "don't mess with this girl."

She glided over to an empty table and sat, putting her bag gently on the floor below her. She looked over her shoulder to the people who dared stared at her and cast a look that would burn them up. They looked away at once.

Her server came over at that moment. K-Mart looked up and studied the scrawny girl before her. Approximately four feet four, white skin, a few freckles, strawberry blond hair tied into two braids, green dress and a dirty apron. She couldn't be more than fifteen or sixteen.

"W-what can I get you miss?" Her voice was saturated with fear. K-Mart could even smell it with how strong it was.

"Hello there." She gave the child a blissful smile and the girl relaxed somewhat. "What's your name?"

"M-my name is Ada, lady."

"What do you have for food, Ada?"

"We have some good pork roasting on the spit and some potatoes and carrots if that's fine for you."

K-Mart looked at her, shock clear on her face. Despite the fact that she'd seen the livestock in the fields, she still couldn't believe these people. A real hot meal. No canned processed life sustaining matter which people devoured in the belief to be food, but an actual homegrown cooked meal. She couldn't remember the last time she ate one.

She grinned so bright it was as if her weapons and her threatening disposition completely disappeared. "That sounds perfect. I'll take it."

Ada looked startled. She clearly hadn't been expecting that. She smiled somewhat as well. "And what will you drink today. We have fine mead if you're interested in that? Or wine perhaps?"

"No mead thanks, but some milk if you have it."

"We do have milk." Then she skipped away to get the lady's supper. The moment she was gone though, her inauspicious disposition returned. The other occupants were looking at her again, so she threw another glare over her shoulder and even put a bit of kick into the glare with the help of her telekinesis. They shrank away instantly.

The girl returned in time with a steaming plate of food and a goblet of fresh milk. The smell of the food made K-Mart's mouth water. She bit into the meat with a fork and sighed. The pork was perfect; just enough juice to make it good and tender without making it seem soggy. The spices themselves were absolutely delightful. And the vegetables were magnificent. She sincerely hadn't tasted anything like it. She swigged her milk. That proved to be excellent as well. She paused mid-bite when she noticed the girl standing over her.

"Can I help you?"

Ada beamed brightly, all trace of fear for the strange lady had left her. Her voice was hushed as she spoke her curiosity. "A-are you a rider?"

K-Mart straightened, dropping her hand. "I beg your pardon?"

The girl's smile faltered a bit. Maybe she shouldn't have spoken after all. "You know… a dragon rider?"

"Dragons?" Maybe she would be able to gain some knowledge from this child. "So you know of them?"

"Of course." Then she stared more intently at her. "You're not from Alageasia, are you, lady?"

"Is that what this land is called?"

"Yes. I could tell when you walked through the door. You're a magician, aren't you?"

K-Mart smiled slightly. "I might be. It appears you have some questions for me. Well I have a few of my own. Sit down and tell me some things and I will try to answer a few of your inquisitions as well."

"Oh I can't miss. I'm on duty and my father will scold me for not attending to the other guests."

"Well then I will buy your time." She reached into her pocket and withdrew two golden coins. She'd filled her pockets after she escaped from that treasury. Normally she wouldn't have bothered with such material trinkets, yet something in her just told her to take it. You never knew when these things could come in handy. "Will this be enough for your time?"

She tossed the coins and Ada caught them awkwardly. She looked into her hand and gawked at the money. Then she smiled bright and beautiful. "This much for me? Oh thank you, lady!"

"Give it to your father and come back here. That should give me enough time to finish the meal."

The moment she was out of sight K-Mart felt the stares back on her again. She heard someone approach but didn't react. They weren't going to attack her. A fist pounded the table roughly, causing her food to bounce and making the milk slosh over the side of the goblet a bit. A scrawny man, round his mid-thirties, stood before her. He glared conceitedly down on her.

"You're not from here, are you?"

She folded her arms behind her back and balanced very casually on the back legs of her chair. "My, my, my," she said in a terrifically girly voice, "is it really that obvious. Oh whatever will I do? It looks like you've caught me." Her chair dropped to the ground and she leaned on her hands, smiling thoughtfully up at him. "So what do you intend to do, little man? So far as I'm concerned, I haven't done anything incriminating besides pay for my meal."

He stared at her for a moment and at her exotic beauty. Then he righted himself. "I-I'm not going to let you hurt anyone around here."

"Well... that's good." She said no more after that but turned back to her food.

He pounded the table again. Before he could speak though she cut him off.

"Honestly sir, I am simply trying to enjoy my meal. It's been a long time since I've had anything this good. And I don't intend to let you spoil it for me." She stood up and he could see the outlined magnificence of her as she righted herself into a fighting stance. She reached for her swords but didn't draw them. "If you do not abscond, then I will remove you from my sight." Her arm flew out and she snatched a handful of his shirt, drawing him close to her face. Her strength caught him completely off guard. She didn't look strong enough to lift a man of his size off the floor, yet she did. She could smell the alcohol on his breath. _Damn idiot doesn't even know what he's doing._ Her voice came out as a hiss and she pushed a little of her telekinesis punch into her threat. "Now get out of my sight before you do something incredibly stupid, you drunken fool!"

She released him and he stumbled back with surprise. Her eyes flashed and he skittered to another corner of the room. She could still feel the stares on her back as she sat down, yet refused to even acknowledge them. She just went right back to her meal until Ada returned.

"I gave my father the money and he said it was fine if I had a rest from my duties."

K-Mart smiled pleasantly and the threat she'd been radiating melted away instantly. Ada smiled and sat in an opposite chair.

"Hosts have the first question." K-Mart sang sweetly.

"Oh—alright. Who are you? What's your name?"

"I have many names, but for the moment I suppose you may call me… Alice."

"My what a peculiar name. Where dose it hail from?"

K-Mart shook a finger. "Now, now, if we're going to get anywhere with this we have to take turns. You had the first question. Now it is my turn."

Ada looked taken aback but didn't seem offended by this arrangement. "Oh… um very well then. What do you want to know?"

"This land, what do you call it again?"

"Alageasia. Have you never heard of it?"

"Not ever."

"You must be from very far away. Possibly across the sea then. What is your country's name? How did you get here?"

"Please, miss, one question at a time." Ada became silent at once and K-Mart smiled. "In answer to your first one though, yes. I come from very far away. Have you ever heard of the United States of America?"

The girl shook her head. "No never."

"Huh… I thought not. What about the Umbrella Corporation?" Again Ada shook her head. K-Mart looked away, clearly disappointed. "No I suppose not. This village is so primitive, how would you ever know what I'm talking about?

Ada looked sincerely confused. What on earth did she mean by primitive? "What is this Umbrella Corporation? And this United States of America, is that your country from which you hail from?"

"Yes." And her voice hinted a trace of what sounded like regret as memories of her life flew by her eyes. "At one point. Now it is my turn. What is this village's name?"

"Bullridge."

"And I suspect you've lived here for your whole life have you."

"Yes, lady. My whole life."

"And how old are you?"

"I'll be fifteen in six weeks."

K-Mart looked away. Ada was so young. She was the same age K-Mart was when the bulk of humanity were all dead.

Ada was speaking now. "How did you come to be here, lady?"

"An accident. I didn't mean to end up here. I was traveling and I'm afraid my vessel was caught in a storm. It was destroyed and now all I have left is that mechanical horse out front." She decided that terms like 'motorcycle' would be too much to comprehend for thes people so she kept it simple.

"A mechanical horse?" Her face lit up, but then dimmed with suspicion. "But there's no such thing."

"I assure you," K-mart smiled shrewdly, "venture outside and you'll see the truth sitting right in front of your pub."

Ada's eyes narrowed. "Your are not lying?"

"What reason would I have to lie? Proof is before your eyes if you look. But there will be time enough for that later, for the moment I have another question. Who rules this land? I expect your people are still the victim of monarchy?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Do you have a king?"

"Why yes, lady. King Galbatorix rules Alageasia. He has for one hundred years."

Even to someone who fought zombies, battled telekinetic monsters, lived through the apocalypse and watched the dead rise again, that still managed to surprise her. A king for one hundred years? Now that was something.

"He must be very old then."

"Why no lady. He does not age. Not ever"

Now that didn't surprise here as much as it should've. She'd once come across an endorser that was assumedly supposed to grant never ageing life. "Is he a good king?"

This made Ada, stop abruptly. She seemed to wish she'd never sat down with this woman. She looked over at the men who were all carrying into hushed conversations so that they would be able to hear what was being said at the one table. "I um… I can't…"

K-Mart's hand raised and she cut her off "No need. I can tell perfectly from your expression."

Her face fell to the table and she was suddenly very still. "The king takes people away for his army." She said so softly K-Mart almost didn't hear her. "He… took lot's of people from our village." From the sound of her voice, this child had suffered much from the loss of someone very close to her for the king. Perhaps a relative or a friend.

K-Mart could've pried her mind for more information but decided against it. That seemed like sincerely personal information. If the child wanted, she would tell her. She'd actually been a lot more useful than she even realized. While she'd spoken, K-Mart searched her mind for any other information. She'd been careful to sort the personal matters away from the data. She didn't want to cross any lines unnecessarily. For the moment though she would need to leave and regroup somewhere else. This pub was far too public to think properly.

Without another word, she dropped another gold coin on the table and stood. "Thank you very much, Ada. You've told me much."

The girl looked frightened like she feared she'd just uncovered something very secretive about their king. "W-what are you going to do?"

"Nothing of course." K-Mart said almost laughing. "This Galbetorix hasn't shown me any move of hostility or comfort. I intend to neither hinder or aid his attempts at… whatever it is he is doing."

"War." The girl said sadly. "He's making war. There are some people in the village who are for our king but there are other's who hate him… I hate him." Her voice was so soft no one but K-Mart heard her. For the second time she was tempted to pry, yet she resisted again. She could only assume.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Ada. I hope you will see them again. That is to say whoever you lost."

Ada opened her mouth but at that moment a messenger stormed into the pub and nearly broke down the door in his haste. It was a boy of no more than sixteen or seventeen. He was scrawny and had a thin mop of yellow hair. He panted in the doorway as he pointed to the sky.

"A rider!" He shouted to the people. "There's a rider landing in the town. It's Murtagh and Thorn."

The reaction was immediate. Everyone, even the drunken ones, rose from their seats with terrified animation.

"Thorn and Murtagh?"

"The king's dragon rider."

"Here? In Bullridge?"

"But why?"

K-Mart snatched her bag from under the table and followed with the rest of the crowd, to see what the commotion was exactly all about. What she saw took her breath away.

There, in the dead center of town was the most magnificent creature she'd ever seen.

* * *

><p><strong>It's been a while since I updated. Hopefully I'll get more viewers after this chapter. <strong>

**Review if you like! Review if you don't. **

**I just love your comments!**


	5. Chapter 5

**5. Fight and Flight**

A red dragon, more beautiful and more crimson than any blood she'd ever shed by own hand, stood in front of them like a great creature from a fantasy.

It wasn't the dragon that had her interest though. It was the knight in crimson armor that grabbed her attention so suddenly. He was tall and muscular even under the armor. He took off his helmet and she could see the definite handsome qualities in his face. Yet she sensed something else about him. Something she couldn't place right off the bat, but he seemed… dangerous; like the UC scientists who use to do experiments of the T-Virus on themselves in order to become stronger.

K-Mart decided to stay towards the back. She had a feeling, his arrival on the very day she was here, wasn't a coincidence.

He looked among the crowd that had gathered and studied the buildings. Then his eye caught on the motorcycle parked in front of the pub and she knew from the look in his eyes that he'd found what he was looking for.

He pointed a finger towards it and addressed the town's people. Everyone's eye was immediately on him. K-Mart was able to slip away almost too perfectly while he spoke. She could still hear his voice by the time she was clear of the town.

* * *

><p>Murtagh spotted the mechanical horse at once. It didn't look like a horse at all; just some unnatural machine with two odd wheels on each side of it. It looked like an alien compared to the rest of the town's wooden appearance.<p>

He punched his finger towards it. "I'm looking for the woman who rides that… thing. Where is she? Anyone who harbors her will suffer the ultimate punishment of King Galbatorix."

A man coming from the pub answered him immediately. "She was here, sire. She came to the pub and ordered food and drink."

"Where is she now?"

He looked around sheepishly. "Well ah… she was here a moment ago."

"She was?" His heart leapt. So she wasn't too far away. She may very well be in that town at that precise moment. Finally, after months of failures regarding the successful capture of his brother, and he would at last be returning to Galbatorix with results. The man wouldn't be able to blame him this time. "Where is she?"

"I—I don't know, your grace. She was just here and now she's gone. The girl Ada spoke to her."

Someone shoved a frightened looking girl forward. A man (possibly her father) attempted to stop them and was halted by the other villagers. "Don't you touch her!" He shouted trying to break free.

Murtagh's arm shot forward and he grabbed the girl by the wrist. "Where is she?" he demanded.

The girl shook her head and looked on the verge of tears with how frightened she felt. "I—I—I don't know, sire. She came for food and then she left when you got here. I don't know where she went though."

"What did she speak to you about?"

"S—she wasn't from around here. From Alageasia I mean. It seemed she didn't know anything about this land. She said she was from across the sea and said something about… the uh… the…"

"The what!" This girl was becoming incredibly useless and Murtagh was very close to using violence to get her to remember.

She shook her head under the pressure. "I—I don't know. It was a name of a place I can't remember. It was a foreign name for the land she came from. The… the… United something of America I think."

The name was unfamiliar to him. He sensed the girl wasn't telling him everything. No matter. His hand came up and he touched her forehead. Her eyes glazed over as he went through the details of their meeting in her head.

_Interesting_. So what the girl was saying was true after all. He released her and she stumbled back a bit drunk from the mind contact. Not only that but he also got a picture of what the new rider looked like.

"She couldn't have gotten far. Does anyone know which way she went?"

People everywhere shook their heads.

This girl was more lithe than he'd predicted.

"Search for her." He commanded jumping up to ride of Thorn's neck. "This woman is a thief and has stolen something highly valuable from the king."

There were murmurs all across the yard as people took in the information.

"A thief?"

"Stole from the king…"

"Knew I didn't like her..."

"How is that possible?"

"It is possible." Murtagh called from his perch above Torn. "Those who do not wish to suffer the wrath of Galbatorix will aid in my search for her. But take great heed, the woman is armed and extremely dangerous."

There was only a moment's hesitation before people began scrambling about to gather torches and pitchforks as the swept the dark for any traces of the girl. Thorn's wings beat the ground and they were air born momentarily.

Murtagh reached out, searching for the girl's mind among the towns people. From one to another towns folk he search and search until his mind struck a brick wall with the force of a speed of lighting. The mental blow was so strong, Murtagh had to lean against Thorn's saddle for support.

_Are you alright, little one?_

_No_, Murtagh answered glumly swaying dangerously. _I just hit a wall going at the dead speed of a flash of lightning_. Murtagh's head cleared and he righted himself on the saddle.

_Will you be alright?_

_I'll survive. For the moment what we need to do is find that rider._ He scanned the earth below using Thorn's enhanced vision to spot out victims. He spotted something the size of a small person running from the village at a dead sprint and knew instantly that it was the girl they were searching for.

Thorn turned towards the person.

To be honest, Murtagh was frightened of the weapons the soldier had explained to him. He said that the things that hit them traveled faster than an arrow. He couldn't imagine anything so fast and yet they'd insisted that the weapons were instant. After that, Murtagh had been sure to put up protective wards that would guard perfectly against such things.

_No fear, little one, we will not fail this time. The dragon is small and will be easy to carry back to the king. And I will be there to aid you in your battle against the magician._

* * *

><p>K-Mart ran blindly into the trees of a forest. She heard the knight's threat to anyone who did not help him search for her. She would've fought if it'd been soldiers. But he was using innocent lives to do his dirty work, and if she'd stayed, someone would've undoubtedly have gotten killed.<p>

She pictured the sweet girl who'd brought her meal. She didn't want anyone so nice to get hurt because of her. K-Mart had been so jazzed to find actual living, breathing people, that she'd let her guard down.

Earlier that day as she was viewing the village she'd broken down in sobs.

"I can't believe it." She'd said to Neo. The shock had been so great, she didn't know what to do at first. "After all these years, and so many are alive. I—I can't…" She looked up, her eyes glittering with tears. "But it's just so… how could this be? They're living as if the T-Virus was never even heard of before."

Neo nudged her with his scaly head and a feeling spread through her body; an uneasy sense of ancient foreign sensibility. "You're right. This doesn't make sense. I don't know if I'm right, but this just reeks with some sort of alternate dimension. I don't think I'm in my own world anymore." The thought of being some strange alien plane of exsistence was daunting, and yet at the same time... euphoric. She'd been given a second chance. She could reenter the world as another normal human being. She didn't have to be afraid of infection or toxicities or the Umbrella Corporation or the fear of extinction. She wasn't alone. She wasn't the last.

She was safe.

"I'm safe?" As she said those words, a weight lifted from her shoulders and she could feel the full completeness of that phrase. She was safe. She looked down to Neo and embraced him in a compassionate hug. "We're safe! There is no virus. I understand now. You're not an experiment after all. You're your own species, aren't you?"

The dragon's look was so evident that it seemed to say, "_well duh_" to her.

Yet now as she ran through the underbrush of the dark forest, she realized that she wasn't safe after all. She'd left one tyranny only to enter into the hands of another. After all that she'd been through and she still could not find peace to live free from fear.

She held tightly to the bag that Neo was curled inside. Wakened by her thumping feet and jerking body as she sprinted through the trees, the baby understood that trouble was afoot.

After the last few survivors of Earth had been eliminated by the UC's gunships, Alice had pushed K-Mart to train in ways she'd never undergone in her lifetime before. K-Mart's own anger and hate had fueled the girl, making her push herself in ways like nothing before. Every day it was wake, drill, eat, drill, spar, drill, eat again, spar, rest, drill, spar, drill some more, eat, and drill just before bed. Days blended together until all that was definite was the here and now. By the time it'd taken for the two women to finally make their move against Umbrella, K-Mart had managed to fulfill more grueling training than even an elite Spartan warrior. Together, with Alice guiding her, they'd been able to destroy what remained of the UC. So a bit of running was nothing to get tired over really.

She was able to run about four miles more before needing to halt and catch her breath. She felt the ground quiver and looked up into the darkened sky to see a great shadow cross over the quarter moon. The red dragon was closing on her. She could feel it and the knight looking at her.

Suddenly, K-Mart didn't understand why in the world she was acting so afraid. He might ride a dragon but that didn't mean he was stronger than her. What did he have but some over grown lizard? She was stronger in mind and body than he would ever be and had undergone trials that were only dreamt of in this world. He was nothing compared to the sights she'd witnessed.

She undid the clasp on the bag and Neo jumped out to perch on her shoulder. With him beside her she stood up to her full height and looked into the sky.

"I don't have to be afraid of you." She hissed into the air. "I'm here Crimson Knight. Face me!"

In response the trees billowed violently as something huge descended from the skies. She tapped into the night vision she'd adapted from the T-Virus and focused on the red dragon. The rider jumped from his saddle like he'd done from the village. They stood silently for a moment, studying the other, searching for weaknesses.

Finally it was K-Mart who broke the tension. "What do you want?"

"You've stolen something very valuable from our king Galbatorix." The knight said, pointing at the hatchling around her shoulders. "If you merely stole the egg, then I would only have to kill you and take it back. As it is though, the dragon has hatched for you. Now you both belong to the emperor."

"Really?" K-Mart said cocking her head to the side. She searched herself as if expecting something to be on her. "Funny thing. I don't see his name anywhere on me. Maybe you've got me mistaken for some other girl with a dragon."

"Do not, make light of this situation, rider." He snapped. "I will not allow you to escape me as Eragon and Sephira have done. If I have to drag your broken body back to the king step by step, so be it. But either way, you are my prey and I will not let go this time."

Wind ruffled her hair and a cloud blocked the light of the moon. K-Mart's face grew dark and her expression became savage with suppressed rage. Her voice was a soft hiss. "Well then you are a fool to think you can possibly match me. And now you will reap it."

Her eyes dilated and a blast of energy flew from her. Earth and leaves exploded from where she stood and cut a path directly to the red rider.

Murtagh was caught off guard. He barely had time to utter a counter attack in the ancient language to protect from her assault. His hand flew out as if to halt the explosion. "Skölir nosu fra bluatin!" He shouted. The blast swept the earth around him and he was otherwise left unharmed. Murtagh stared at her for a moment. She hadn't uttered a single word when the magic came.

He didn't have time to gawk though. She'd taken advantage of his distraction to withdraw one of the strange weapons from her belt and began firing mercilessly at him. He threw his hand out again and uttered another shield up. Then he shouted for the weapon to leave her hand. It flew away easily. She seemed surprised for a moment but then quickly took hold of the swords behind her back and brandished them in a flourish of shining metal. Murtagh took zar'roc from its sheath and prepared for hand-to-hand combat.

_So this is how she wants it is it?_ He thought with traces of a smile twitching on his face. He wondered how she would fare against him. _Very well then._

She didn't turn her head from her opponent but whispered to her dragon to take cover. The dragon understood he would be no match in this fight and would only succeed in getting in the way if he stayed round her shoulders. He squeaked once and jumped from her shoulders. He was still too young to truly fly, but he was able to use his wings to gently glide to the ground and hide somewhere up a small tree.

Murtagh would leave Thorn to retrieve the dragon when the time was right. For the moment he would deal with the rider himself.

They stood rooted to their spots, each neglecting to make the first move. They were studying each other; measuring the other's strength—searching for weaknesses. She rushed at him without warning, finally becoming impatient or having discovered an opening in his stance. Their blades clashed and they battled away at each other without holding anything back.

He swung. She blocked. He battered. She rammed. He struck. She recoiled.

On and on it went in the clearing of that forest. Neither showing any sign of tiring. The knight hooked his blade into one of her swords and jerked it out of her hand. It clanged against a tree and fell to the ground. Now it was single blade against single blade. Both fighters needed both hands to hold their swords if they didn't want them to fly out of their hands with the amount of strength they were fighting with. The two weapons banged against each other into the night. Both the opponents seemed to be equally skilled.

The new rider maneuvered her blade to pin his flat against an upturned tree trunk. Murtagh struggled, trying to regain his weapon. He rammed his shoulder into hers, but she didn't falter.

"I gotta admit it," She said breathlessly. "You're very good. You're the second person I can think of whose ever matched me."

Murtagh's teeth grinded together. "Likewise." Then he rammed his head into her temple. She stumbled back, holding her head with her forearm to where he'd struck it. The tip of her sword dragged in the dirt as she tried desperately to grip it.

Murtagh was trading into the offense now. The blow to her head had made her dizzy and he was able to take advantage of her injury. He struck at her and she barely had time to raise her weapon and block his attack. He herded her against a tree and swung zar'roc above his head. Her sword came up to block. His blow was so powerful, though, that it cut her blade clean in two. She fell to the ground and panted up at him.

Zar'roc's tip pointed at her throat with malice.

"You are beaten. Yield." He demanded.

She glared. "No."

"I don't have time for these games. You have lost. Yield now!"

All she did was smile. "You know the best things about broad swords? There's always an extra one." She slashed at him and cut a mark deep in his armor. He stumbled back, surprised by her furry. The extra blade shone brightly in the moonlight and she wielded it so wrathfully, that she almost looked demented.

"I will die before I yield to scum like you!"

"Very well."

She rushed at him and he dodged to the side. She corrected her blunder before he could take advantage of it and strike again. Then a high animal howl cut the night air. Her face turned, sensing an alternate danger. She saw the great red dragon leap at a emerald green baby and pin it under sharp cage-like claws. Murtagh saw his opening with her distraction and struck hard on her head with the hilt of Zar'roc. The blow did not nock her out, as it was originally planned, but stunned her so she lost the grip on her sword. It fell from her and she landed on her knees, holding the back of her head with both hands.

He grabbed a fistful of her hair and held the blade to her throat.

"I said, yield!" He hissed in her ear.

"Never!" She retorted.

"YEILD!"

"DROP DEAD, ASSWIPE!"

"Yield or watch your dragon die before you."

She stared at the red dragon and the tiny green dragon pinned below it and knew without a doubt it would be no challenge for the greater one to merely snatch it in his jaws and chew him up to nothing. Yet still she did not move. Instead she searched herself for every bit of power inside her.

Murtagh felt an iron bar strike him in the gut and send him flying yards away where his back struck a tree with a thud. K-Mart moved as if time had slowed down. She rolled, taking up her extra sword and crouching by the claw that held Neo to the ground and sank it deep into the wrist of the red dragon.

A roar split the night and the talons lifted from the ground in fury. K-Mart wasted no time in snatching up the baby and making a run for it.

She ran and ran, not caring where she was going or where she ended up. All that mattered was that she get away as fast as she could. It didn't matter though. The knight and his dragon were in hot pursuit in no time.

K-Mart couldn't risk getting captured. Her one chance was to hide and make a run for it when she had the chance.

She dodged behind a thick tree and waited. She heard the footprints of the other rider. Her lungs burned from the fight and the running but she forced them to settled so her breathing would not be loud. She sensed him just behind her tree so she stole a glance and saw his back to her. He had no idea where she was.

His unsuspecting gave her an idea. She soundlessly motioned up the tree to Neo.

_Hide up there_, she thought urgently. Neo looked at her confused._ Hide up there._ She persisted._ Just till it's safe. I have to take care of this guy first and then we'll both make a run for it, kay?_

His eyes narrowed. She could feel a mixture of disapproval from him swirling in her gut. After a moment's hesitation, he finally clawed up the tree.

She summoned what was left of her energy and focused it in one lethal attack. They weren't going to get far if she was merciful. She didn't want to try and restrain herself anyways. She was going to kill him.

She stepped out from behind the tree and attacked his metal barrier with the force of a rocket launcher. She hit a wall and he spun around to face her. The impact of her blow didn't breach the countless walls he'd placed around his mind, but it still caught him off guard. She was persistent and didn't give in, in the slightest. She pressed forward, drilling through the walls and searching out for even the tiniest crack she could use to slip through.

He held up, keeping up his barrier and fighting her back. He took a step forward, trying to push her attack away. He took another and another as if he were fighting a windstorm.

K-Mart's strength was weakening. She couldn't hold out for much longer. What she thought would be a simple kill and run, turned out to be a mind numbing process and she wasn't getting any closer to victory. She was so preoccupied with breaking through his wall that she didn't see him moving closer and closer till he was finally able to touch her. He grabbed her shoulders and slammed her against a tree trunk. She didn't yield.

"ENOUGH!" He shouted, slamming her again. "You're no match for me! Stop or you'll kill yourself and your dragon!"

She used the last bit of her strength then finally broke. She sagged, heaving up mouthfuls of air with the battle she'd just undergone. Her nose was bleeding and she was drenched in a cold sweat from the strain of the mental assault. She looked up at how close he'd gotten and stared. Then she slammed into him unexpectedly.

He released her and fell to the ground. She took the opportunity to get clear of him. He leapt forward and grabbed her ankle making her fall to the ground with him. She struggled, kicking and clawing at him with every bit of strength she had. She unhooked a knife from her belt and slashed at him. The blade slashed a good cut into his eyebrow. He hissed with fury and grabbed her wrist to stop the attack. He hooked an arm under her back and maneuvered her so that she was face down now. He pinned her with his knee on her back and held her arm above her. Even with their change of positions, she didn't quit fighting. Her extra arm grabbed a large branch and swung it back at him. He grabbed that arm as well and pinned them both behind her back. With the loss of her arms and stance, she attempted to attack his mind again.

_Does this woman never stop!_

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" He shouted. He touched her forehead and whispered in the ancient language. "Let her sleep!"

For a single moment, it seemed she would fight that too. But she stilled and quite struggling at once.

"Finally!" He breathed. Then something flew at him from out of nowhere, clawing and snapping at his eyes. He threw the baby dragon from him and Thorn caught him with a single claw.

Murtagh was furious. He grabbed the rider under him and gripped her by the neck of her shirt. He glared at her unconscious face and pulled an arm back as if preparing to strike her in her sleep. She looked so harmless like this. He growled and lowered his arm.

Now that she was unconscious, he could leave her in the dirt and she wouldn't get away. He grabbed a leather sack and held it out to Thorn who dropped the struggling baby dragon inside. He growled and snapped, trying to get out as Murtagh tightened the string and gave it to the red dragon. Thorn would carry it in his mouth while Murtagh held the rider on the saddle. He retrieved ropes from Thorn's saddlebag and went about binding her hands and feet. He'd taken extra precaution by making the ropes fare tighter than they necessarily needed to be. Then his eyes caught on the gedwëy ignasia she had over her right hand.

He stared, distracted by how large it was. A great silver dragon curled around her thumb where it should've stopped just short over her wrist. Instead it twined round it once and then its tale curled down past her sleeve. He pulled the fabric down wondering where it stopped. It curled round her arm again and ended over a scar in her forearm. Murtagh wasn't sure, but he thought this bight looked human. What sort of creature tried to eat this girl? And why did this gedwëy ignasia look different from others? Not even Galbatorix's was this strong.

He could worry about that later. For the moment all that was necessary was getting this girl to his master as soon as possible. He lifted her in his arms and started for Thorn's saddle. For as strong as this girl was, she was surprisingly light.

He slung the girl over the side and got in after her with his arm holding her so that she wouldn't fall out.

_Let's go_, he told Thorn quickly.

* * *

><p>They'd flown for over two days before they finally couldn't take it anymore. Thorn settled on the flat of a mountainside that would provide them shelter from the east wind that continued to blow against them, throwing them off of track. They were still about two hundred miles away from Urû`baen so it would take some time hand over the new rider to the king. Murtagh was positive that since they had the rider and dragon now, there wasn't as much demand to hurry. Even still he wanted to get this track over with already<p>

The spell Murtagh had put on the rider had done its job very well. She'd remained asleep and inactive for the entire ride with the only movement being an occasional twitch of her body here and there. The dragon on the other hand was becoming impatient for air and freedom from its leather prison. Thorn also announced that the baby was hungry. So that was another reason they had to stop. Murtagh was able to find some rabbits and proceeded to slicing up the meat and dropping them into the pouch. He was reluctant to opening it, in case the dragon made a run for it or managed to rouse his still sleeping rider.

He squeaked angrily when he found out Murtagh wasn't the girl and even attempted to bite his fingers as he was dropping in chunks of meat.

"Stop that!" Murtagh hissed when the baby teeth grazed his hand, breaking the skin enough to hurt. The baby snapped again, furious at the man who was not his rider. "Stop that or you'll go hungry." He didn't stop. Murtagh finally just gave up and handed the whole slab of meat inside. He gave the bag back to Thorn where he'd be able to have a better hold on the baby. Murtagh leaned against a boulder and poked at the fire with a stick.

His eyes swerved to look at the drowsing girl. Her clothes were interesting and the weapons se'd used drew some curiosity. Thorn must've seen the look on his face.

_She certainly wasn't intending to yield to you._

Murtagh snorted. That certainly was an understatement.

Thorn read his thoughts and chuckled. _I wonder where she hails from. I've never seen the kinds of weapons she used on you. Quite impressive wouldn't you say._

Murtagh sighed, hating to admit it. _Yes it was._

_She doesn't fight like your brother,_ He stated studying her. _Or anyone we've ever met. She fights with anger, and rage, and hate—not towards us though, but for something else._

Murtagh remembered back to the soldiers that he'd met after their encounter with the strange magician. _When I spoke with the men, they said she mentioned something about Umbrella Corporation—whatever that is._

Thorn's head bowed to side with contemplation. _I've never heard of such a thing. From that we can assume she is most certainly not from this land._

_Perhaps I could find out more._ Murtagh moved closer to her, preparing to touch her mind for more information about her. Thorn advised against it.

_I wouldn't recommend it._ He said quickly. _You saw the way she battled you off with her powers—and without saying anything too._

_I'll be careful. You'll be here to help me after all._

Thorn still did not feel right with this idea, but nodded his assessment. _Very well. I am curious to know as well I suppose._

Murtagh smiled and closed his eyes to better concentrate as he prepared to sneak through the walls and walls that were sure to be guarding her mind. What surprised him was the unbelievable ease it took to bridge the wards guarding her. He didn't even have to try. The walls were so thin it had been like he pressed again a screen of paper harder and harder till it'd torn easily away and he was falling through. He felt so amazed when he'd breached her mind, that he didn't see the danger until it was too late. He fell head first into a spinning sea of uncontrolled memories and emotions. When he realized his mistake he tried to pull out of her mind, but horrible grotesque hands grabbed at him and dragged him back to the scenes that happened to this young woman.

A woman with blond hair shouted at him, over the bed of a girl who he couldn't see. "That's your sister right there! Do you know what will happen if you do this?"

He could feel rage and hurt build inside of him. He shouted back at her, surprised by how high and feminine his voice sounded. "Yeah, Mom. Believe it or not but I actually thought about it." A hand collided with his left cheek at that statement and the picture faded.

A pale woman with dark hair and teal eyes smiled at him. He didn't know how but he could feel power radiating off of her unlike anything he'd felt before. "I'm Alice." She said and the picture changed.

He watched as a girl with brown hair and glasses, screamed as what looked like people, burst from a door and grabbed at her flailing limbs then, to his horror, began eating her as she watched them. They ripped her skin clean from the bone and blood poured from her like a fountain. Her hed flw back and tears errupted with the torture. Her horrified expression would forever be a burn in his memory. The memory changed at that moment.

He was running as fast as he could as people chased him through the streets. He ran through a glass door and barricaded himself inside while the people grouped at the glass on the other side. He could see there faces clearly while blood pored from their mouths and their eyes focused hungrily on him like a mob of demons coming to rip him apart slowly.

A woman with another of those strange weapons hugging him tenderly. Tears and trama burst from him as he clutched at her for protection. "It's alright. You're safe now."

A boy with goggles on the top of his head smiled at him. "Hey, I'm John."

The same boy again, but now he was on the ground and more people—or creatures pinned him and sank their teeth in as he screamed with terror.

More images flicked in and out of his vision, growing faster and more pungent as time pressed.

A man, roared as his eyes glazed over with a mad yellow sheen. He looked over to Murtagh and pinned him against a brick wall as he snapped at his throat, hungry for blood and flesh. He knew this man to be his father.

the image changed again. People screamed as metal, glass and fire shot at them from all directions. A woman grabbed him and led him running towards the edge of the boat. People were torn apart and died as they attempted the same thing.

"I don't want to do it anymore!" He screamed suddenly at the blond woman from before. "I want to be able to make my own decisions!"

A girl lied in a bed looking up at him. She was bald and gaunt with bruises and yellow patches all over her face and head. The sight of her brought tears to his eyes. "I need you to do me a favor, sissy."

He sniffed. "What favor?"

The scene changed but the girl from before was still with him. They were outside in the summer sunshine. He clutched her hand and tears burst into his eyes. "Will you wait for me? I mean if you go somewhere crazy how will I find you again?"

Terror.

Rage.

Hurt.

Sorrow.

…HATE.

All these emotions built inside of him like an overflowing dam. Pretty soon he would burst with the emount of pain flooding through him. It was too much for him. Far too much. He needed to pull back. He had to. He couldn't take it. It was going to tear him open.

_THORN, HELP ME!_

He jerked back landing on the ground, panting and looking up into the starlit sky. Thorn touched his mind gently so he wouldn't startle him. He saw what Murtagh had seen and recoiled a little with the sights.

He waited for his rider to collect himself before speaking. _Are you alright?_

Murtagh lied there covering his eyes and wishing he could erase those sights. He shook his head to Thorn's question.

"I shouldn't have done that." He said aloud, shaking from the shock of so much hurt and loss. It was like he'd been that girl as she went through those unbearable events. With the strength of so much agony at once, Murtagh couldn't do anything but lie in the dirt for the moment and weep.

Thorn looked over to his rider and placed a claw comfortingly on his back, waiting for him to regain himself. Murtagh drew comfort from the touch and was able to collect himself better than a normal man without the support. He sat up and looked at the girl, who was still soundlessly asleep. Now he was filled with more questions than before he'd touched her mind. And unfortunately none of his old ones had really been answered by that contact.

_Where did she come from?_

_What were those things that wanted to eat her?_

_That blond woman who was yelling at her, was that her mother?_

_What didn't she want to do anymore?_

_Who was the bald young girl laying in the bed?_

_Who was the woman who called herself Alice?_


End file.
